Dance | Drama | Music

Dance

In October, Douglas Letheren (BFA ’07) won a Movado Future Legends award: a $10,000 grant to support his artistic efforts, along with a specially-designed crystal award and a Movado watch.

Alanna Morris (BFA ’07) joined TU Dance in Minneapolis, under the direction of Uri Sands and Toni Pierce-Sands.

Troy Ogilvie (BFA ’07) performed in the Reverb Festival at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York in November. She danced in the work of Sidra Bell and Juilliard faculty member Stephen Pier (’77, dance). Belinda McGuire (BFA ’06) performed the work of Andrea Miller (BFA ’04) at the festival with the Gallim Dance Group. Austin McCormick’s (BFA ’06) Company XIV, which includes Laura Careless (BFA ’07), also performed.

Kevin Shannon (BFA ’07) joined Hubbard Street Dance.

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, including dancers Harumi Terayama (BFA ’06), Kristen Weiser (BFA ’04), and Jubal Batisti (BFA ’04), performed at the State Theater in New Brunswick, N.J., in November.

Corey Scott-Gilbert (BFA ’05) joined Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet.

Shannon Gillen (BFA ’03) and Elisabeth Motley (BFA ’03), co-directors and choreographers of Doorknob Company, were selected for the 2008 Fresh Tracks performance and residency at Dance Theater Workshop, where they will premiere five-hundred by fives on January 4 and 5. Doorknob Company will also premiere a new work titled Julia Julia Julia Child at Dance New Amsterdam, as part of their Object series, in April 2008.

Eugene Rhodes III (Diploma ’01) performed his choreography Schatz, and Lorena Egan (BFA ’98) Dance presented Egan’s L’Estro armonico, as part of Thang Dao (’98) Dance Company’s first annual Contemporary Dance Festival in November at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. Jane Sato (BFA ’03) danced in Dao’s Glass Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.

Drama

Stephen Bel Davies (Group 36) won the New York Musical Theater Festival Award for outstanding individual performance for his Off-Off-Broadway performance in Austentatious last month.

Jimmy Davis (Group 36) was recently seen opposite Sean McNall (Group 29) and David Townsend (Group 34) in the Off-Off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, directed by Shepard Sobel, at the Pearl Theater.

Brian J. Smith (Group 36) can be seen next month in the Broadway revival of William Inge’s 1950 play Come Back, Little Sheba, directed by Michael Pressman.

Zina Camblin (Playwrights ’06) play … And Her Hair Went With Her will be performed at New Jersey Rep beginning in January.

Sam Gold (Directing ’06) directed Henry Stram (Group 6) and Michael Chernus (Group 28) last month in the Off-Broadway premiere of Noah Haidle’s (Playwrights ’04) Rag and Bone, a play that Haidle wrote as a student at Juilliard. Gold also directed a new play Off-Broadway in October at Studio Dante called The Joke, written by Sam Marks.

Craig Baldwin (Group 31) can be seen now in Classic Stage Company’s Off-Broadway production of Shakespeare’s Richard III, directed by Brian Kulick and Michael Cumpsty.

Daniel Breaker (Group 31) can be seen in February in an Off-Broadway production of Aphra Behn’s play Oroonoko, based on her 1688 novella and directed by Kate Whoriskey.

Group 31 classmates Denis Butkus, Samantha Soule, Daniel Talbott, and Sarah Grace Wilson’s theater company, Rising Phoenix Rep, was the recipient of the 2007 Caffe Cino Fellowship Award and received two New York Innovative Theater Awards in September, including a prize for outstanding director for Talbott. Butkus worked with Group 31 classmate Wayne Scott recently on Rising Phoenix Rep’s portion of 365 Days/365 Plays, a cycle of plays by Suzan-Lori Parks,  at the Public Theater, directed by RPR member and Juilliard directing alumna Kirsten Kelly (Directing ’03).

David Denman (Group 26) appeared last month on an episode of the ABC drama Grey’s Anatomy.

Juan Hernandez (Group 25) is currently appearing at New York’s Public Theater in the LAByrinth Theater Company’s production of A View from 151st Street, a new play written by Bob Glaudini and directed by Peter DuBois.

Group 21 classmates Enid Graham and Robert Sella are currently appearing in Chick, The Great Osram, a new play by David Grimm, directed by Michael Wilson, at Hartford Stage in Connecticut.

Marco Barricelli (Group 11), who can be seen now in a revival of Arthur Miller’s The Price at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Conn., was recently named the new artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz.

Linda Alper (Group 4) just completed her 20th season with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Most recently, she played Dorine in a revival of Molière’s Tartuffe, and appeared in Tracy’s Tiger, a world-premiere musical for which she also co-wrote the book and lyrics.

In November, Stephen McKinley Henderson (Group 1) was nominated for an Audelco Award, which recognizes excellence in black theater, for his performance in King Hedley II at the Signature Theater Company in New York last season.

Music

In September, Eugene (McDonough) Tzigane (MM ’07, orchestral conducting) won second prize in the Lovro von Matacic Fourth International Competition for Young Conductors in Zagreb, Croatia. He was also awarded “Best Artistic Achievement” by the Croatian Society of Music Artists. Tzigane conducted the Zagreb Philharmonic in the final concert for a performance of Franck’s Symphony in D Minor.

Augustin Hadelich (Graduate Diploma ’05, Artist Diploma ’07, violin) and Philip Fisher (MM ’06, piano) were presented by Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series in November, performing works by Beethoven and Franck on the Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts in the Walter Reade Theater.

Giora Schmidt’s (Diploma ’04, violin) debut recital disk, Vocalise, was released in September by Allegro Music/Endeavour Classics. The album includes works by Vivaldi, De Falla, Juilliard faculty member Philip Lasser (DMA '94, composition), Franck, and Wieniawski.

Vassily Primakov (BM ’03, piano) and Diliana Momtchilova (MM ’99, DMA ’05, cello) performed at Arium in New York in October.

Konstantin Soukhovetski (BM ’03, MM ’05, Artist Diploma ’07, piano) performed at Arium in New York in November.

In October, Mason Bates (MM ’02, composition) was selected as California Symphony’s 2007-10 Young American Composer-in-Residence.

Joseph Bousso (MM ’02, orchestral conducting) has been appointed music director of the Hamburg Youth Orchestra in Germany. He is currently in his second season as coach and conductor at the Hamburg State Opera House.

Alexander Fiterstein (BM ’02, Graduate Diploma ’02, clarinet) will perform with the Jerusalem Quartet on December 6 at the 92nd Street Y in New York. The concert is the second in the Y’s International Ensembles series, and will feature music by Beethoven, Tzvi Avni, and Brahms.

The ATOS Trio—whose members are Thomas Hoppe (Advanced Certificate ’01, collaborative piano), Annette von Hehn (BM ’02, violin), and cellist Stefan Heinemeyer—won the 2007 Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award, announced in October by the Chamber Music Society of Detroit.

The Formosa Quartet—violinists Jasmine Lin and Joseph Lin (Pre-College, violin), Che-yen Chen (MM ’01, Artist Diploma ’03, viola), and cellist Jacob Braun—will present the New York premiere of Shih-Hui Chen’s Mei Hua for String Quartet, as well as works by Mendelssohn, Gershwin, and Wolf, on December 9 as part of Lincoln Center’s Great Performers series’ Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts in the Walter Reade Theater.

Elizabeth Morgan (BM ’01, MM ’03, piano) presented a program titled “The Virtuous Virtuoso: Keyboard Works From the Musical Notebooks of Jane Austen” at Gallerie Icosahedron in New York in November. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in historical musicology and a D.M.A. in piano performance at the University of California, L.A., the first student in the school’s history to pursue doctorates simultaneously in both departments.

In September, Arash Amini (MM ’99, PS ’00, cello) performed the original chamber version of Saint-Saëns’ The Carnival of the Animals in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, on the Musicians Emergency Fund’s Junior/Senior concert series. Among the other performers were Anna Polonsky (MM ’02, piano), Kyoko Takezawa (’89, violin), Yuri Namkung (MM ’06, violin), Scott Lee (BM ’00, viola), and Kurt Muroki (’97, bass). In October, Arash performed a recital titled “In Memory of ‘Slava’” with pianist Barbara Podgurski, on the Bloomingdale School of Music's Faculty Focus series. Amini’s feature article on Rostropovich appears on the Bloomingdale School’s Web site: www.bsmny.org.

Lera Auerbach’s (BM ’98, MM ’99, composition) Russian Requiem had its premiere at Bremen Musikfest in September. This 90-minute work was commissioned by Musikfest Bremen and the Philharmonischen Gesellshaft Bremen in cooperation with Semana de Musica Religiosa de Cuenca in Spain. The performers were the Bremen Philharmonic, Latvian National Chorus, Estonian National Opera Boys’ Choir, bass soloist Nikita Storojev, and mezzo soprano soloist Elzbieta Ardam. A new recording of Auerbach’s music for piano, titled Flight and Fire and featuring pianist Ksenia Nosikova, was released by Profil in July.

Andrey Tchekmazov (Advanced Certificate ’98, cello) performed Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello at Arium in New York in November.

Composer Paul Schoenfield’s new recording on Black Box features performances by Andrew Russo (BM ’97, MM ’98, piano) and the Prague Philharmonia, under the baton of JoAnn Falletta (MM ’83, DMA ’89, orchestral conducting). James Ehnes (BM ’97, violin) joins Russo on the recording for two of Schoenfield’s chamber works, one of which also includes Edward Arron (BM ’98, cello).

Vadim Gluzman (Advanced Certificate ’96, violin) performed a recital with pianist Angela Yoffe in November on the Frick Collection Concerts series in New York. The program featured works by Beethoven, Ysaÿe, Rota, and Ravel, as well as the world premiere of Lera Auerbach’s (BM ’98, MM ’99, composition) Par.ti.ta for solo violin, written for Gluzman. In September, Gluzman replaced Gidon Kremer as the soloist in two performances of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Staatskapelle Weimar in Germany.

In October, Jennifer Diamond (BM ’95, MM ’97, voice) sang Fiordiligi in a concert version of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte with the Opera Company of Brooklyn.

The 2007 residency of the quartet Ethel—comprising Cornelius Dufallo (BM ’95, MM ’97, DMA ’02, violin), Ralph Farris (BM ’93, MM ’94, viola), Dorothy Lawson (MM ’84, DMA ’90, cello), and Mary Rowell (BM ’80, MM ’81, violin)—at the Grand Canyon Music Festival’s Native American Composer Apprenticeship Project was documented on WNYC in October with a broadcast of “Composition on the Reservation: A Musician’s Radio Diary,” narrated by Farris and produced by WNYC’s Beth Fertig. The piece presented an up-close, entertaining look at the working sessions and interactions between Ethel and the student composers. Also in October, Ethel was joined by the Electric Kompany—including members Kevin Gallagher (MM ’95, guitar) and James Johnston (BM ’97, piano)—for two concerts at the Monkey West in New York.

An article on Pauline Viardot written by Jamée Ard (DMA ’94, voice) was in the October edition of Opera News.

Miranda Cuckson’s (BM ’94, MM ’01, DMA ’06, violin) new CD of Ralph Shapey’s music has just been released by Centaur Records. It features two works for violin and piano, with Blair McMillen (MM ’95, piano), and three solo works. Cuckson performed in November with Lost Dog New Music Ensemble at the Waltz-Astoria Cafe in Queens and the Tenri Cultural Institute in Manhattan.

Elizabeth Askren (Pre-College ’93, piano) was one of six conductors chosen to participate in the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris’s 2007 Académie de Vendôme in August and September, with conducting pedagogue Kenneth Keisler and music director John Nelson. The Académie took place in Paris and Vendôme, the orchestra’s summer residence. Askren begins her fourth season as artistic director of the Fondation des Etats-Unis’s cultural season.

Dave Phillips (MM ’92, bass) received a Chamber Music America grant to perform and record with his father, bassist Barre Phillips. The performances will take place in France and in the U.S. during November and December.

Anne Akiko Meyers (Certificate ’90, violin) played in Colombia, Poland, and Denver (Colo.) in September, performing the Szymanowski Concerto No. 1 and Joseph Schwantner’s Angelfire, a fantasy written for her. She presented a recital in Kansas City, Mo., in October and gave a master class with Benny Kim (BM ’86, MM ’86, violin). In November, Meyers played with the Reno (Nevada) Philharmonic led by Barry Jekowsky (BM ’74, MM ’75, percussion), and in Frankfurt, Germany, with the Staatsphilharmonie, conducted by George Pehlivanian.

Gregg August (MM ’89, double bass) performed with the J.D. Allen Trio (also including Allen and Rudy Royston) in November at Cachaça in New York, as well as at the Blue Note.

The Concerto da camera by Victor Kioulaphides (MM ’86, double bass) was given its premiere in November by the Royal Estudiantina “La Napolitaine” at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Brussels. The work, commissioned by and written for La Napolitaine, will also be featured on the group’s tour of Japan in April 2008.

Laurence Reese (BM ’85, percussion), principal timpanist of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, gave the world premiere of John Psathas's concerto for timpani and orchestra, Planet Damnation, with the orchestra in Wellington in October.

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (Diploma ’80, Professional Studies ’82, violin) was the featured guest interviewed by Nancy Shear on the Conversations series in November, presented by Music for All Seasons, at the Gallery at Astor Center in New York.

Maria Radicheva (BM ’84, MM ’85, violin) was a guest artist at the Israel Conservatory of Music in Tel Aviv in November. She presented four days of master classes and gave a recital at the conservatory’s Shtriker Auditorium with pianist Yoni Farhi, assistant conductor of the Haifa Symphony.

The Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival, founded and directed by Aloysia Friedmann (BM ’82, MM ’83, violin), celebrated its 10th anniversary in August with a commissioned premiere by Peter Schickele (MS ’60, composition), a piano quartet titled Music for Orcas Island. The two-week season included a number of Juilliard alumni as guest artists, including Jon Kimura Parker (BM ’81, MM ’81, DMA ’89, piano), who performed the original stage band version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

Chin Kim (BM ’82, MM ’83, DMA ’89, violin) and David Oei (’72, piano) presented a faculty recital at the Mannes College of Music in November. The program consisted of works by Schumann, Prokifiev, Paganini, Janacek, and Schoenfield.

Judith Shatin’s (MM ’74, composition) Akhmatova Songs were performed in October by Dinosaur Annex in Boston. Da Capo Chamber Players performed the work at the Soundways Festival in St. Petersburg and at the Moscow Autumn Festival in Moscow, both in November. Shatin’s Penelope’s Song, in a version for amplified soprano sax and electronics made from sounds of weaving, was premiered by Susan Fancher at the Witherspoon Museum in October at the University of North Carolina at Greensborough’s New Music Festival. Her For the Birds (amplified cello and electronics made from birdsong) was performed by Madeleine Shapiro in October on the Ear to the Earth Festival at the Judson Church in New York. Her Songs of War and Peace were performed by Cantori New York, conducted by Mark Shapiro, at the Church of the Holy Trinity in November. They were part of the “Judith Project,” with other pieces by Judiths Bingham, Weir, and Zaimont. Shatin is professor of music at the University of Virginia, where she also directs the Virginia Center for Computer Music.

Jeffrey Swann (BM ’73, MM ’73, DMA ’80, piano) performed with Mark Peskanov (Diploma ’78, violin) at Bargemusic in Brooklyn in November, performing sonatas by Handel and Beethoven.

Soprano Jessica Tranzillo (BM ’71, voice) was one of the featured performers in the program of sacred music by Monteverdi presented by Artek in November at All Saints’ Church in Princeton, N.J. The program was repeated at Manhattan’s Church of the Blessed Sacrament and St. Luke’s Church in Queens.

Frederick Zlotkin (BM ’71, MS ’72, DMA ’78, cello) took a one-year leave of absence from his post as principal cellist with the New York City Ballet Orchestra to play the New York Philharmonic’s entire 2006-07 season, including tours to Asia, Europe, and Vail, Colorado. For the third consecutive year, he played solo Bach suite movements during the annual reading of names at Ground Zero in September. He also performed Bruch’s Kol Nidrei at Tempel Emanu-El in New York for its annual Yom Kippur services. In October, Zlotkin performed with his Lyric Piano Quartet at the Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester in Rye, N.Y., and at Queens College. In November, he resumed his post at the New York City Ballet.

Pianist Max Lifchitz (BM ’70, MM ’71, composition)  opened North/South Consonance’s 28th consecutive season in October with a recital at Christ and St. Stephen’s Church in New York in October featuring recent piano music by six American women conposers. Elizabeth Bell’s (BS ’53, composition) Arecibo Sonata was included on the program. Lifchitz also presented a recital at the church in November, featuring music by some of Mexico’s most important composers.

Craig Sheppard’s (BM ’70, MS ’71, piano) two-CD set of Book I of Bach’s The Well Tempered Clavier was released by Romeo Records in November.

William Schimmel (BM ’69, MS ’70, DMA ’73, composition) conducted his 13th annual Accordion Master Class and Concert Series in July at the Tenri Cultural Institute in New York. Sixteen of his works for solo accordion were performed, along with his Canon Law and Karmina Sutrana, both for accordion and voice; Ne’er Beginning nor Ne’er Ending, for two accordions; A Polka Monologue, for accordion and narrator; and Scarlatti Was Here, for accordion and dance/video, featuring Micki Goodman (BFA ’69, dance). The event was sponsored by the American Accordionists’ Association. (See Alumni Spotlight on Page ??)

Christina Petrowska-Quilico (BM ’68, MS ’69, piano) premiered Nostalgia for Airs Unheard by Kati Agocs (Certificate ’00, MM ’02, DMA ’05, composition) and Prelude and Fugue for GG by Ana Sokolovic during the Glenn Gould Celebrations at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto in September, on a concert broadcast live on CBC. Her new CD Eclipse, featuring music written by David Mott, was launched in October at a concert in Toronto. She has been featured in 26 CBC radio broadcasts so far this year, has given two recitals at York University in Toronto, and will launch two more CDs in the spring.

Ursula Oppens (MS ’67, piano) will premiere a work by William Bolcom in the Grand Piano Marathon that will reopen Merkin Concert Hall in New York on January 21. Philip Glass (Diploma ’60, MS ’62, composition) will also be among the performers in this six-hour free event.

George Pollock (BS ’65, voice) has been cast in the independent film Evan’s Gate, filming in New York and New Jersey during October and November. Oy Vey, in which he was featured in the role of Saul, was selected as the 2007 Fort Lee Film Commission Asian-American Film Festival Best in Show.

Solomon Mikowsky (BS ’61, MS ’61, piano) directed his International Piano Festivals in Europe during June and July, which included piano courses in Toledo and in Paris, as well as 24 piano recitals throughout Spain and the Canary Islands performed by 11 of his piano students from the Manhattan School of Music.

The Antara Ensemble, conducted by Harold Jones (Diploma ’59, flute), opened its 14th season in November at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. Jones was the soloist in Quantz’s Concerto in G for Flute and Strings, with Kenneth Adams as guest conductor. Mioi Takeda (MM ’90, violin) was featured as soloist in Haydn’s Concerto in G for Violin and Strings. The Antara Ensemble will perform on January 15 at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in N.Y

Salome Ramras Arkatov (BS ’46, piano) documentary The Legacy of Rosina Lhévinne can be seen on the Documentary Film Channel nationwide. It was shown in October in Boulder, Colo., introduced by  Mme. Lhévinne’s daughter Marianna (Alexandra), who took part in the question-and-answer period. Arkatov’s Memories of John Browning: The Lhévinne Legacy Continues was screened in New York for the Rachmaninoff Society Conference in September. In Los Angeles, it was shown at the Skirball Cultural Center in May, and it will be screened for the U.C.L.A. Emeriti Association in February. More information about the films can be found at www.arkatovproductions.com.

Ezra Schabas (Diploma ’43, clarinet; BS ’48, music education) is the author of Jan Rubes: A Man of Many Talents, a new biography of the Canadian singer and actor that was published by Dundurn Press in October.

Charles Rosen (Preparatory Center ’39, piano) will be honored as the 2008 Instrumentalist of the Year at the annual Musical America Awards, held on December 13 at Lincoln Center.

Alumni News Archives